Changes
by Maca-Dreamer28
Summary: A short tale of just how much has changed in Selina Kyle and Bruce Wayne's life in a year...including their adaptation to each other.A story of love, loss and life catching two unsuspecting people in their net. Two-Shot. Please R&R I may post a sequal!
1. Selina

Changes

Life really has changed in a year. Not in the typical 'your boyfriend moves in and your old life moves out' sense, although I do buy my groceries more than I take them now. No, life has changed much more dramatically than that.

It's been a whole year since The Batman hung up his cape and mask and went back out to re-join the real world with me by his side. It's been a year since his trusted surrogate father Alfred nodded swiftly to us in a café in Florence that Bruce had insisted we visit, not days after his 'death'. Now I know why. Of course, I couldn't just sit there and let him watch Alfred walk away without a single word spoken between the two, so I did what I do best and disappeared for an hour or two before meeting a much happier Bruce back at our hotel. Happier, but not happy.

It's been eight months since we moved from the sunny streets of Florence to the dismal streets of Ontario, Canada. Bruce consistently reminded me that we couldn't stay in one place too long to avoid being seen. All my life I had shifted home as easily as taking a breath, but a small part of me longed to be stationary. To build a home and a life off a solid ground was a dream of mine, but I'd never tell Bruce that. He'd try his damndest to make my dreams a reality and I couldn't have him sacrificing any more than he already had for me. I had really begun to consider him a partner.

It's been six months since we moved to Paris, France and for a good reason: Bruce did find out about my dream, and boy, it was everything I imagined and more. It's wasn't always a fairy tale, though. Bruce cried in his sleep, moaning and calling out for another chance. At what? He saved his city and managed to score himself a girl, albeit a screwed up one. What more could he have wanted? Secretly I feared that he was craving another, anyone else to spare him from just my company. My fears weren't put to rest when the one night I decided to comfort him, he jumped up and stalked out of the room faster than I could reach out a hand to stop him. He never came back to bed and it left me with an empty feeling in my core that I could only describe as loss. I wondered then what he'd done to me, and just how far I'd truly fallen.

It's was 4 months that he didn't touch me. Sure, he'd place a hand on my back in front of his new work friends or kiss me chastely on the cheek to keep up appearances, but that was all. From the outside, everything looked normal, but I could read deeper into him. I knew that his kisses and touches were apologies- he knew what he was doing, pushing me away, and the scrapes along my skin with his hand were a means of forgiveness seeking. I couldn't bear to look him in the eyes when he did touch me, and he and I both wondered why. I had everything from him, I didn't need any more. I spent days hauled up in my room searching through myself to find what might be causing my dilemma, when it hit me like a freight train. I had _everything _from him, but I didn't have _him_. What scared me the most was that I would give up everything to see him return to me.

It was two months later that we finally kissed again. It was sudden, and over much too fast but like the others, it was an inferno. My senses were alive with the feel of him and when he wrapped his arm around my waist and threaded his fingers through my hair, I knew that I'd found home. For the first time in months, the passion I'd found in this man threatened to consume me and for just one moment, I let it. Of course, we both broke away soon after we begun as the need for oxygen became overwhelmingly prominent. I can still remember his expression as he looked at me, _really_ looked at me, for the first time since the bomb threat eight months prior. All of my pretences were dropped as I let him stare into my soul, not feeling vulnerable, but feeling alive! And I knew what he saw; a woman with a broken spirit, a heavy heart but a full smile blooming as she sought solace and comfort from the man she loved in a twisted way. I could never fully comprehend until then that I did love him, twisted as it may be. And I also never knew until then that he felt the same. So we did what new lovers do best: made love. It was tricky; his hands were shaking and I couldn't find my voice. Some sexual prowess I had! Even after all of these years, I never knew until then that sleeping with someone and making love were two completely different acts. It's a lesson I've never appreciated more, and one I doubt I shall ever forget. We lay together afterwards, just staring at the ceiling and contemplating all and nothing. The entire time, his body was so close I could taste it, and his hands never left my waist as he held me so gently, as if he was afraid I would break. That's another lesson; the toughest of things smash hardest, and we really hit the wall after that night. After that, we started afresh.

It's been two months since that night and officially a year since we jumped on this bandwagon. We still live in a two bedroom apartment in the heart of Paris, and we still make love like it's our first time, but some things will never change. Like how we will never agree on the correct amount of chilli to put in a curry, or how he'll never see me as anything other than beautiful, even though I'm tainted. I guess he is too. Even as I write this, out on my balcony, looking out to the Eifel Tower, Bruce will wrap his arms around my waist and look out with me. We never turn to look at each other, though, and I've always wondered-

Yes, life changes every day, but some things will never change, and I don't think I'll ever get used to the look of pure love and happiness I see in Bruce's eyes every time he stares at me. I wonder if he'll ever get used to my matching expression that I wear only when I see him.


	2. Bruce

Changes

Bruce

Life changes so often you sometimes forget that it is even changing, but when you stop to look around and see how far you've come, you notice a few things. You notice how the people who were by your side a year ago aren't there anymore but instead new people fill the old space, with new ideas and dreams. These new people aren't anything like the old ones, and when you have as much time as I have on my hands, you really start to notice what makes a person, and you find that sometimes you discover something about that person that you never knew. And boy, did that frighten me.

It's been one year since the afternoon I made peace with a part of my soul. Alfred. I had purposely dragged Selina there just hours after the bomb had gone off. It was mere hours since I had swam home and found myself outside of her old apartment, knowing secretly that she wouldn't be there but hoping all the same. Hours after I literally ran into her at the airport and, almost unthinkingly, dragged her into my arms and kissed her so hard that I was sure I melted into her. It was hours after the plane ride together that I saw Alfred. True to his word he nodded to me and I returned it, but we both never spoke. Well, almost. He had turned to walk away straight away and I felt a sense of panic rising in my chest at the thought of him leaving. Suddenly his disappearance months ago seemed like nothing compared to the torturous pace he was walking away from me now. Selina must have sensed the change as she whispered to me that she needed the restroom and grabbed all of her belongings before departing swiftly. I knew that this was the only chance I would have to make it right with Alfred, so I paid the check and hoped to god that Selina was actually hinting at me to do a runner. I caught up to him easily and, after a few moments of awkward small talk, we both fell into each other's arms and wept silently. He told me he never wanted to leave and I told him that I was glad he did. I stole a glance towards the café and saw Selina making her way out of the back entrance to the restaurant and Alfred smiled knowingly. He told me soon after that he had to get back for his afternoon nap and I swore that I would track him down again, even if it took years. He smiled and nodded, as if he knew. I returned to the hotel happier, but still slightly off. I brushed it off and gave Selina a kiss before jumping in the shower. I didn't know that this was just the beginning.

It's been seven months since we were fully settled in our new home in Ontario, Canada. I could tell that Selina hated the cold and I hated it almost as much, but I knew that we had to keep moving. Another thing I noticed was that she was never moving. Sure, she'd get up to make lunch or go for a walk but once she was seated on the couch, she wouldn't get up for hours. I wondered if she was having some sort of breakdown. She had told me that she had moved a lot as a child, and I wondered if this was some kind of nesting routine she'd built to make herself feel a little more secure. I felt terrible for depriving her of her needs, but I knew we couldn't stay here forever. I supposed, that a few years couldn't hurt, right? The plane tickets were booked the next day and two weeks from then we'd be settled into Paris, France, with the sun and the art and aristocracy that she'd always wanted to be a part of. It was my duty as, whatever I was, to fulfil her dreams and the smile I received in return was more than enough payback.

It's been five months since I hit the wall and refused to pull myself back up. Every night, unfailingly for the past two months I had dreamt of Rachel: her smile, her laughter and her death. Nothing could make her voice vanish and all day long I'd hear a faint call of 'Bruce' in the back of my head, pulling me deeper into insanity. I felt awful for the way I had treated Selina when she was only trying to help me, but I couldn't find it in myself to apologise. She hadn't when she had tried to, unknowingly, kill me, so why did she deserve one? I had screamed at myself to stop thinking of her as some kind of punching bag because I knew that if I ever hit too hard, she'd hit me back harder and I couldn't lose her. I felt closed in. It wasn't my fault it was the Joker's! But relentlessly she'd call my name in my ear as I broke myself down to skin and bones on the floor of my bedroom, crying out for another chance to save her, to take it all back. I descended into insanity without realising. The shock came when I realised that I had welcomed it. I knew then that something had to change.

It's been three months since I finally found some help in the form of a phone call from Lucius. He told me that he had seen me in Paris the week before and had been stunned by the dead that surrounded me, even in the presence of Selina. It had been a long phone call, seven hours to be exact, and even that was not enough. Lucius was patient through my whole ordeal and managed to help me overcome some unknown fears with the help of an anonymous psychologist. I learned not to fear Rachel's passing and instead take it as a sign that I should move on to be happy with Selina. Okay, it wasn't that simple, but the main point is that I made it through as I seemingly always do, though this time Bats took a break and let Bruce fight it out for a change. I knew I had made it when I saw Selina preparing coffee in the kitchen the next day and was sure that I'd never been so glad that I was alive.

It's been one months since I found my sexual appetite again and I have never been so thrilled. Selina is like a drug that I can't stay away from. Her body, her soul and her mind ensnare me and I'm powerless to resist. I realised that after the first time we really touched again that I wanted to spend the rest of my life making her happy. I wanted her to be as content as I was and I wondered why a beautiful woman like her could ever stay with me, especially through my dark period. As I kissed her, I felt alive and when she'd touch me, all the blood in my body would turn to fire, a raging inferno that couldn't be put out and grew as steadily as our love. As I held her in my arms, I felt like I was home.

Even now, as I sit at the kitchen table writing this down and occasionally doodling on the margins, I cannot stop myself from staring at her. The first few times she'll blush and the next few she'll mutter under her breath before coming out with a raging 'Do I have something on my face?' I'll always laugh and tell her she's beautiful because there aren't enough adjectives ever that could tell her exactly how I feel about her, so I'll stick with that. I'm whipped to the core, chained to the chair by her and her love but I never want to get free. I swear sometimes I feel as though I'm missing air when she's out shopping, even if it only for an hour. I can't live seconds without her and though I'll never tell her, the day she accidently stayed out too late, I cried, hoping to god I hadn't lost the one person I had learned to live for. I've been broken down and turned into pure adrenaline with her and god knows I never got this rush from defeating Gotham's most wanted. I guess some things really do change. How you can learn to give up everything you thought you could never live without for someone you're certain you'll die with. It's strange how you can get so attached to random objects that you never would have paid attention to if you had not kissed her near or on. The lamp and the couch are my personal favourites, though I think this might be the fourth lamp we've bought as you can't use them when they're broken.

I know now that most things in life do change, but some things will always remain. I don't think I'll ever stop looking at Selina through my soul and I'll never love her more than when she opens up hers to me. I guess she was right when she said that we were both suckers.

**A/N: okay, I don't like this a lot but I needed to get it off my chest as the plot bunnies have been bugging me for a while. Please R&R and let me know what you think! I might do another Bruce/Selina but with more detail. This is just a snapshot into a year of their lives so it's not supposed to be a Bold and the Beautiful episode! (soap drama) Thank you all for reading and I hoped you enjoyed it! **


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